Lana Del Rey Says That ‘Get Free’ Could Be Removed From ‘Lust For Life’ Because Of The Radiohead Lawsuit

Over the weekend, the music world was shaken by the news that two of its biggest stars were engaging in a legal battle. Though many have noticed since the release of last year’s Lust For Life that the album’s closing song, “Get Free,” bared a resemblance to Radiohead’s ubiquitous “Creep,” it was still surprising to hear that Radiohead (or their publisher) had opted to pursue a lawsuit against Del Rey, after she offered the band 40% of the publishing.

It’s true about the lawsuit. Although I know my song wasn’t inspired by Creep, Radiohead feel it was and want 100% of the publishing – I offered up to 40 over the last few months but they will only accept 100. Their lawyers have been relentless, so we will deal with it in court.

As Stereogum points out, Del Rey has recently spoken about turmoil in her past couple live performances. In video from her set last night in Denver, Del Rey mentions offhandedly that the song could be removed from future physical versions of the record, noting that the song is her “statement song from the record” and “her personal manifesto.” And though the song may ultimately be forced from the album, the sentiment that it holds cannot be equally muzzled. Check out video of the speech below.

I can almost guarantee that it is Capitol Records. (Who published “Creep” on Radiohead’s “Pablo Honey” album.) Radiohead already had to fight them over their contracts and their own music. (One reason why they haven’t had a record publisher since “Hail To The Thief.”) I’m sure Thom & Gang are fine with it, and even if they weren’t, they would most likely wouldn’t make a stink over it.

The most ironic part of this story is that Radiohead were themselves sued over “Creep” because it bears a striking similarity to “The Air That I Breathe”…….so this is some Inception-level copyright lawsuit.